U.S. Army Field Band holds free concert for Sun City residents

Amanda Dickey/The Sun Today Magnolia Hall was packed Friday evening as the Army Field Band played indoors becauseo of stormy weather.

Amanda Dickey/The Sun Today April Boucher plays the tamborine and sings during the Army Field Band concert.

Amanda Dickey/The Sun Today Glenn Robertson plays the drums during the Army Field Band concert.

Amanda Dickey/The Sun Today Guitarists Tom Lindsey and Brandon Boron get in the groove as they play to the Sun City audience.

Amanda Dickey/The Sun Today The United States Army Field Band performs for Sun City residents Friday at Magnolia Hall.

The United States Army Field Band from Washington, D.C., played popular tunes for a packed audience Friday evening at Sun City’s Magnolia Hall.

The free concert was sponsored by the Sun City Veterans Association. The band played familiar rock, pop, country and patriotic music.

“This is everyone’s full time job,” said Staff Sgt. James K. Little, the band’s lighting designer and assistant audio engineer. “It’s a six-piece band and we travel around the U.S. and different areas depending on the part of the year. …We travel 120 days out of the year.”

Spring, summer and fall tours are 30 days long, Little said.

Members of the band who played at Sun City included lead singer April Boucher, keyboardist Randy Wight, guitarist Tom Lindsey, guitarist Brandon Boron, bassist Pete Krasulski and drummer Glenn Robertson.

Considered the musical ambassadors of the Army, the field band has played for millions of people in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Iraq and Kuwait.

“Our mission is to go to the grassroots of America and reach the public,” said Tom Lindsey, the band’s road manager. “We’re the face of the Army. A lot of people don’t know about the military or the Army and we’re sometimes the first exposure people have to that.”

About 600 people turned out for the event, which was originally scheduled for the pavilion behind Magnolia Hall.

“We arrived at 4 p.m. and interfaced with the concert sponsor,” Little said. “He discussed it with us and at 6:30 p.m. it looked like rain. We decided to hold the concert inside Magnolia Hall instead. … It was probably better for the crowd and the band because once it starts raining, the equipment has to be torn down and there would have been no concert at all.”

About 600 people turned out for the event. Magnolia Hall seats about 540, so many people listened to the music in the lobby over the speaker system.

“It was definitely a packed house,” Little said. “I think it was unfortunate that some people had to be turned away because there was no seating left.”

According to its website, the band provides music to show a sense of support and camaraderie between civilians and the military.

Since its inception in 1946, the U.S. Army Field Band, also known as the Volunteers, has appeared in more than 30 countries on four different continents.

Though the band mostly targets audiences with cover sings relative to age group, the group plans to release original music on YouTube in the near future.

“We determine our age group and choose what music will fit with the audience,” Lindsey said. “We’ve played everything from Paramore to Frank Sinatra.”